November 09, 2006

Text-speak on exams. Scottish authorities OK answers written in text, 'as long as the basic idea is expressed.' Examiners in New Zealand may or may not, depending. Researchers at Coventry University say texting actually improves spelling skills.

All of which goes to prove a couple of things: Scots and New Zealanders don't speak English, and the English themselves are doubtful.

posted by Capt. Renault 18 years ago
  • And so civilisation comes to an end. C ya.
  • It's bad enough marking student papers now. If this were implemented here in Canada I think I'd walk off the job, citing health and safety concerns over my sanity.
  • kthx!!1
  • Well, it's essentially misspelling ,right? And for many types of tests, wherein the content of the student's answer is waht is being tested, spelling doesn't count anyway, right? What's the big deal? l8tr
  • waht is being tested As you can see, I was never a fan of "points off for spelling" on my exams.
  • I thought the kids were at school to learn new shit. Why are teachers being required to learn a foreign language?
  • It isn't really about spelling, and I've never taken 'points off' on any exam I've assigned, it's about effectively communicating ideas with writing. To the extent spelling, grammar and, most importantly, construction interfere, then it affects marks.
  • I take points off. But then, I teach English. Allowing texting would defeat the object, which is learning the language, not inventing strange ways of representing ideas.
  • From the comments: "Just another turn in the downward spiral to ensure that the majority of the younsters have no proper education and therefore very good recruits for the dictatoship when it comes. Joking? No I am not. - Charles Taylor, Bristol, England" ummmmm yeah.
  • I love this. Let them communicate in idiotese if they like. It just means fewer people with whom I would compete for employment opportunities. Rise great Ivory Tower! RISE!
  • What's a dictatoship? Is that what a dictato sails on? And why do such ships need recruits? Dumbass.
  • Language is a virus from outer space --William Burroughs
  • What's a dictatoship? I think it's like a potatoship, but with dictionaries.
  • The SQA said today that although text answers were considered "inappropriate" and would not be eligible for top marks, they would still be given credit if expressing a valid idea. So, I read this as saying IF you get the answer right, but you write it in your new fangled phone talk, you'll still recieve SOME credit for the answer. NOT full credit. In other words, text-speak answers are penalized, but if they demonstrate knowledge of the subject, partial credit will be given. This doesn't sound like the end of civilization to me.
  • Besides, Teddy Roosevelt and Noah Webster would have approved.
  • im in ur sk00lz, takin ur t3sts..
  • *I* want to know what 'younsters' are.
  • Too youn for you PatB, move along before someone sees you.
  • Language is constantly evolving. It's not language if it isn't. In reality, we've always had several different 'types' of language within each one; formal, informal, dialect, and various forms of symbolic or shorthand/coded language that pertain to specific groups which I suppose you could call tribal variants. I think that it's as well to accept this. I have no problem with it. The only thing I will say is that I believe it is an advantage for an intelligent person to be conversant with several different styles, if not to master all of them. I consider myself incredibly lucky to be a native speaker of a highly fluid and adaptable language, English.
  • just out of curiosity, would Chinese be considered a "highly fluid and adaptable" language? My guess is no, but I have no idea.
  • first, if I were teaching on a college/uni level, I think I would fail any student who wrote a test like that, just on principle... and now for the derail. LordSludge you've given me a great opportunity to ask the monkeyverse a question that has been on my mind lately... what is the particular origin of the "Im in ur *z blankin ur *z" meme?
  • "would Chinese be considered a "highly fluid and adaptable" language?" Mandarin, Cantonese, Min, Wu, Xiang, Hakka or Gan? The Chinese language groups are very diverse, so I would say yes. There is a huge, huge body of literature so I guess it is. So is Russian.
  • just out of curiosity, would Chinese be considered a "highly fluid and adaptable" language? Dear God, yes.
  • I heard about this on the radio last night and cried. A lot of high school students that were interviewed seemed to think it was inappropriate to use txt-speak in English exams, but were otherwise unconcerned. Personally I don't think there's any place for it in the education system. But I am old and curmudgeonly.
  • Funny that this is in Scotland and New Zealand - two countries where they don't even speak proper English in the first place.
  • I nae kenna teh l33t sp34k.
  • A few years ago there was a survey of some kind (I don't remember the details) whereby it turned out Australians speak the purest form of English or have the most pure accent or something similar. HAHAHA. Sorry.
  • "Scotland and New Zealand - two countries where they don't even speak proper English in the first place." Ha ha, oh please, please go to Glasgow & make this statement.
  • I'm from Edinburgh. I wouldn't go to Glasgow if you paid me.
  • Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
  • Red card! Too many oes. Go stand in the corner.
  • "I wouldn't go to Glasgow if you paid me." That's because Glasgae belongs to meeee.
  • Medusa: boing-boing-linked-explanation here and a funny recent election variant here
  • Oh gives a shit if these working class fools can or can't spell? We are the ubermensch, and these foul smelling fucks can't touch us. All the can do is give us dirty looks as they pack our groceries. Their single most powerful weapon is to say 'have a nice day' with sarcasm. Good grief the working class give me such a laugh.
  • Oh fuck, kill me now. 'Oh' should read as 'Who'. Oh well there goes my right to procreate.
  • randomaction, y're on a roll today... and pete y're the BEST!!! /snicker
  • I think exams are not meant to test just your pure knowledge of a subject, but also your ability to explain it. The examiners might make some allowance for poor spelling and even poor language skills, but the use of text language is a deliberate choice of obscurity over clarity (surely no-one who uses these abbreviations thinks they are the correct spelling)which ought to count against you. It's as though someone in a math test chose to show their working all in hex, just to show how smart they were. If you deliberately make your answers less clear, you deserve to be penalised, I reckon.
  • Hear, hear!
  • ...surely no-one who uses these abbreviations thinks they are the correct spelling... This is key. You know it's not English, it shouldn't be acceptable to use it.
  • Nice comma splice there, bashi.
  • *bans fuyu*
  • I've beaten students for lesser crimes than that. They don't let me teach anymore.
  • I didn't really ban fuyu. I am just...so...ashamed. Please tell me I used ellipses correctly! Is that the correct pluralisation of ellipse? Is pluralisation a word? Should I have enclosed pluralisation in quotations? Oh God.
  • What's wrong with "plural"?
  • Ach, Wolof, ye know, 'tain't a real word unless it has unnecessary high-foul-utin' syllables tacked onto it. And then is used to impressionize a Fowler-less and oft Websterated public. /not entirely sarcastic
  • Isn't it funny that the word nominalization is a nominalization?